As someone whose job takes place almost entirely online, I am constantly searching for solutions to bring my email under control. After all, as most of us know, it is extremely difficult to focus on one task when new emails are incessantly popping up in the lower right corner of the screen.

Sometimes, I try closing my Entourage altogether. That is, of course, the most obvious answer, and one that we recommend to our clients as an optimal solution. However, this often leaves me feeling anxious that I will miss something important, and I end up wasting even more time continuously reopening the program to make sure that I haven’t.

In a world where we’re constantly connected, being out of touch can be scary, especially if you feel you might miss a message from your boss or an important client.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to see that a company called AwayFind had mentioned us on Twitter. Interested by the name and their short bio, I clicked through to their website.

AwayFind is a web application that allows you to close your email, and get notified when you get important messages based on a wide variety of criteria that you specify, including keywords, email addresses of critical people, or message priority status.

You can choose to get notified in a variety of ways – including phone call, text message, Twitter, AIM, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, and Yahoo Messenger. I recommend the phone, as probably staying connected to any of these other programs is just as distracting as constantly checking email, but it’s up to you.

I’ve only been using this for one day, so I can’t say that I’m an expert on the application. However, if you ever worry about closing your email because you might miss something, I recommend giving it a try. Does it help you to cultivate absorbed focus?